NEW Rangers vice-chairman Paraag Marathe has addressed fears about the San Francisco 49ers’ interests in the Glasgow giants and Leeds United becoming a major problem if both clubs qualify for the same European tournament in future.
American businessman John Textor has just sold the 43 per cent stake in Crystal Palace which he bought for £86m in 2021 due to the complications which his involvement with the FA Cup winners was causing.
Textor was also in a consortium which owned Lyon and concerns about UEFA multi-club ownership rules being breached were raised when the French outfit and their English counterparts both qualified for next season’s Europa League.
European football’s governing body prevents clubs under the same ownership from competing in the Champions League, Europa League or Conference League together. They state that no individual or entity can exert “control or decisive influence” over more than one club.
However, Marathe, who is also the chairman of the newly-promoted Elland Road club, stressed that checks were made when 49ers Enterprises and American businessman Andrew Cavenagh were completing their takeover of Rangers.
He stressed the new majority shareholders in the Ibrox club have a contingency plan in the event that they both end up in the same continental competition and does not envisage it presenting any insurmountable hurdles.
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“We have checked the box with those that we need to to make sure that if and when there is ever even a situation when there is a perception of a conflict, we would solve that,” he said. “That has already been solved, so we’re good there.”
Meanwhile, Marathe has dismissed suggestions that Rangers could become a feeder club for Leeds in future and has predicted they will both benefit from sharing knowledge and expertise going forward.
“It would be a disservice to Leeds and Rangers to consider one a feeder club to the other,” he said. “Consider them both closed-loop universes that deserve proper attention and nurture and care. We will designate and assign resources approximately.
“If Elland Road had a plumbing issue, we’re certain to want to call and figure out who the best plumber is! You can apply that analogy to an agent, so there’s lots that you can share.
“So me being able to sit across both means I can help navigate those too. In my mind it’s a real positive to have two clubs like that but there’s not one that is subordinate to the other. That would be a disservice.”
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Asked how he would divide his time between Leeds and Rangers business, Marathe said, “I don’t see it as hours in a day, days in a week or weeks in a year, I really don’t. To me, I hate losing and I want to win. I will do whatever I need to do to keep me on the winning side of the ledger at any club.
“That is all I care about. I don’t even know where I was two days ago. Honestly. Right now I am here and thinking about this. That is all that drives me.”
He added, “The short, medium and long term goal is to win. It’s win the league, it’s win cups, it’s all of the above. Do we think we have what we need to win? Absolutely. We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t.
“We definitely have big belief in Kev [sporting director Thelwell] and Russell [manager Martin] to lead the football side. This is about building the right foundation and about doing it intelligently and thoughtfully, not just throwing money at it.
“Throwing money might solve something short term, but this is about trying to build something that will last, and outlast our tenures with the club and keep Rangers on a great trajectory it deserves to be on.”
